Hedi Slimane Reveals His Vision For Saint Laurent Paris

There has already been quite a lot of buzz around Hedi Slimane taking over the reins at Yves Saint Laurent (soon to be Saint Laurent Paris), and French Vogue is adding to the excitement with an eight-page feature on the brand’s new creative director in the its August issue.

The story is set against black-and-white photos taken by Slimane himself, as well as a sketch of the designer by Elizabeth Peyton, WWDsays. One of the more intriguing photos is of a black box with the Saint Laurent Paris name printed across it, which will be one of the first looks at the label’s new branding. The feature includes an e-mail interview, in which Slimane, who has never before designed women’s wear (though he built up quite the reputation at the helm of Dior Homme) discussed his vision of the Saint Laurent woman:

“I approach this via a wardrobe codified to the extreme, almost ritualistic.”

Slimane also talked about the possibility of reviving couture at the storied house, but gave no indication that he has a time frame in mind:

“Haute couture is a legitimate subject for Yves Saint Laurent and could resume one day. The priority today is to revamp and redeploy the luxury ready-to-wear.”

And it would seem that Slimane is well on his way to realizing that goal, because his first collection was a resounding success with the select few who got to see it. WWD also reports that word on the street is Slimane is currently shooting his first campaign for the brand in New York, which is an interesting choice considering the RTW line’s new moniker will include “Paris”. But we’re going to have to just trust his judgement on this — if his debut collection is any indicator, it will be a stroke of brilliance.